


I wouldn’t ask you (to take care of me)

by Lazy_Sunsets



Series: Dont leave me here (I dont know where my heart is) [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27142906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazy_Sunsets/pseuds/Lazy_Sunsets
Summary: There was once a tower, taller than clouds and dreams, and there, alone, sat a girl. The girl made true of her desires, and happiness smiled to her.There was once a twisted city, rotten to the core, and there, alone, lived a girl. She was saved by a queen of ashes, and lost all that she once desired.Now there is another tower, tall enough to touch the skies, and there, with someone else, is a girl. That girl ran from the burning embers and covers her scars.
Relationships: Mercury Black/Emerald Sustrai
Series: Dont leave me here (I dont know where my heart is) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981282
Kudos: 5





	I wouldn’t ask you (to take care of me)

“ _What’re_ _you_ _doing up here?_ ” Emerald demanded. Her hands rested perfectly on her lap, one over the other, as if to control themselves.

“ _Same as you, I guess,_ ” Mercury said, looking too calm for sobriety.

Anger, trauma, anxiety too persistent to outrun, nightmares?

“ _To escape it all!_ ” He finished, throwing that hand out wide and gesturing to the sky so close, it was almost as if she could fall forward into it.

The girl immediately cleared her throat and, ignoring him, casted her gaze out onto the eternal nothing. Hating already that she’d been found, hating who had found her, hating her hate.

She didn't look when he sat himself beside her, all gracefully, like a cat. Mercury was leaning back on an arm, the other resting on his bent knee and holding a beer as he stared at the endless stars. Emerald loved this place. It was high and empty, there was nothing to tempt her, nothing to take, nothing to steal. Only herself and whatever she brought.

“ _I don't run from my problems, I'm trying to get better._ ”, she hated Merc’s eyes, bright and dark at the same time, cruel and smart. He always pretended to be lazier than he actually was, but those eyes could not hide it and that was infuriating.

“ _Of course,_ ” the boy laughed. “ _a thief that doesn't run away. Now, that’s a pretty lie._ ”

“ _You act like you destroying everything is right._ ” Emerald hissed. _Careful now, your hands are free_ , a mocking voice laughed.

“ _I don't remember saying I want to be right, though._ ” he threw the can of beer out of the tower, without a care for what it would hit.

“ _What?_ ” She said in disbelief. “ _You don't want to?_ ”

“ _Yeah,_ ” he nodded, “ _I don’t think you understand that not everyone that is clearly broken wants to pretend that they can be fixed like you do._ ”

“ _I DON'T DO THAT!!_ _...I’m sorry,_ ” she whispered a second later, squeezing her eyes shut as they burned. “ _I should behave myself better. Y-you didn’t do anything wrong for me to snap like that._ ”

“ _But I sure did. I pushed all your buttons knowing exactly what I was doing. You looked like you needed to scream at someone. Not that I care._ ”

“ _What?_ ” She asked, confused.

“ _If I hadn’t seen you trying to wish yourself away 5 minutes ago, and tear yourself apart for the last 6 years_ ” he said, “ _I would’ve been fooled, you know? You act like you’re so in-control now, like nothing could ruffle a single green hair on your head. Outright pisses a guy trying to die._ ”

“ _You’re 25_ ” Em said, blinking and doing what she did best — diverge attention. “ _you’re too young for this shit, you asshole. No dying on my watch._ ”

“ _Well, the point is you’re not as put-together as you try to pretend you are. Here I was, thinking ‘damn, Cinder really did a number on the girl and molded her like clay’ but you’re still picking up the pieces, huh? And you’re free now, you don’t have a monster dad or something so it’s gonna get better._ ”

What he was saying between the lines was clear as crystal. Emerald didnt have a monster dad, so that made her future possibly better, that wasn't the case for him.

“ _Tell you what,_ ” the girl said, “ _lay down here and just look up. I'm not gonna confide in you, but well. Being here helps me out so maybe the company will make us both better._ ”

And soon comfortable silence fell between them. When Emerald actually stopped to think about it, they have known each other for years, through all the arrests, fights and crimes. They were not best friends or anything, nor did they actually enjoy each other, but in some sense they were almost connected. In a sad, twisted way, but still.

“ _I know you said you’re not gonna confide in me,_ ” Mercury began awkwardly, and Emerald’s gaze slowly tracked down from the skies to his too-shiny eyes, “ _but that doesn’t mean you can’t, you know? This... thing we have is not healthy at all, but it’s not like any of us give a shit, so you might as well._ ”

“ _Hah, you dipshit. Very bold of you to assume I’m gonna need to confide anything, I don't need anyone. Well, that’s kind of you to offer—_ ”

“ _—but no dice, huh?_ ” he finished, meeting her gaze.

Mercury didn’t say anything when she held back her cry, when she took deep breaths out of no where or when her hands fisted in the hem of his jacket, and for that, only that, she was grateful.


End file.
